Kevin Durant and Julian Wright are about to get Paid

Freshman Kevin Durant of Texas and Sophomore Julian Wright of Kansas are declaring for the NBA draft. Wright made the announcement yesterday, and Durant is expected to make the announcement at a press conference later this afternoon.

According to Texas Coach Rick Barnes, Durant hasn't told him what he plans to do, but based on the fact that Durant won every individual major award as a freshman, and is a guarenteed top 2 pick, it would only make sense that he goes pro. ESPN's Andy Katz reported that Durant plans to enter the draft, but will not withdraw from school and will finish out the spring semester.

Wright is officially in the draft, however he has not and has no plans to hire an agent at this time. This means that if he doesn't like his draft position he can withdraw from the draft by June 18 and go back to school. Currently he is projected to go ninth, and said that he expects to go from tenth to sixteenth.

I don't get why he wouldn't stay another year. He improved his numbers quite a bit from freshman to sophomore year, but they still weren't overwhelming at 12 pts and 8 rebs. He was also very inconsistent with 15 games in single-digit scoring (including the last two in the NCAA tournament) and only three games over 20 pts. In addition, the lack of a 3-pt shot (3-13 this year) from a projected wing player is a bit of a warning sign.

If Wright stayed in school one more year, developed a three point shot, more consistentcy, and showed he could produce in big games, he'd be a top three pick. But, I suppose you still make some good money getting in drafted in the teens, and you don't have to go to class anymore, so I can see the positives there.